Canisius College men's basketball
coach Tom Parrotta announced today
that a total of seven players have agreed to join the Golden Griffins men's
basketball program. Five of those individuals will be eligible for the 2011-12
season, while transfers Freddy Asprilla
(Villavicencio, Columbia) and Isaac
Sosa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) will sit out next season in accordance with
NCAA transfer regulations, and both student-athletes will have one year of
eligibility, starting with the 2012-13 campaign.

The five members of the recruiting
class that will be on the Blue and Gold's active roster next season include Jose Agosto (Gatlinburg, Tenn.), Kevin Bleeker (Alkmaar, Netherlands), Josiah Heath (Rochester, N.Y.), Franklin Milian (La Vega, Dominican
Republic) and Harold Washington
(Brandywine, Md.).

"I am excited about this class on
a number of levels," Parrotta said. "This group builds on the solid foundation
we've established at Canisius and the potential this group holds is extremely
exciting. I think we've also addressed needs that are very important for
success in this conference. Size, shooting and depth are some of the things we
zeroed in on through this recruiting process and I think we've satisfied those
areas."

Asprilla, who played in 16 games
at Kansas State during the 2010-11 campaign, will sit out one year in
accordance with NCAA transfer rules. The 6-foot-10, 280-pound center averaged
4.9 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Wildcats, while shooting 50 percent from
the field to go with 10 assists, 17 blocked shots and seven steals. In 2008-09,
he played in 23 games for Florida International, where he averaged 13.7 points
per game and shot 53.2 percent from the field en route to being named the Sun
Belt Conference Rookie of the Year. He was also named third-team All-Sun Belt
Conference in his true freshman season after he posted 17.3 points and 11.4 rebounds
per game for the Panthers in conference play.

Agosto is a 6-foot-6, 215-pound
forward that helped lead the Gatlinburg-Pittman High School Highlanders to a
24-5 overall record last season and a No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press
Tennessee High School basketball poll. He averaged 16 points and 9.6 rebounds
per game in his senior campaign and closed out the year shooting 62 percent
from the field, 37 percent from 3-point land and 79 percent from the free-throw
line. Considered a tough rebounder at both ends of the floor, Agosto is strong
and skilled on the block and can knock down the mid-range jump shot.

Bleeker is a 6-foot-10 center from
Alkmaar, Netherlands that plays for BV Noordkop. A member of the Dutch Under-18
team, Bleeker recently took part in the 16th annual Holland Nordic
Basketball Tournament April 22-25.

Heath joins the Golden Griffins
after he averaged 21.7 points and 16.6 rebounds per game during his senior
season at Irondequoit High School. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward was named
the Greater Rochester Player of the Year by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle after he helped lead the Eagles to
the school's first Section V championship in 66 years. In the sectional
championship game against Greece-Athena High School, Heath scored 27 points and
pulled down 27 rebounds to earn Section V MVP honors.

Milian led Our Savior New American
School in scoring and rebounding last season after he posted 18 points and
eight rebounds per game. A 6-foot-4 guard with a good handle and strong
rebounding ability, Milian comes from the same high school program that
produced current Canisius center Marial
Dhal.

Sosa will join the Canisius
program after playing the last three years at Central Florida. During the
2010-11 campaign, he played in 33 contests and ranked third on the roster with
eight points per game, while ranking sixth in Conference USA play by hitting
39.2 percent of his attempts from behind the 3-point arc. A two-time Conference
USA All-Academic Team honoree, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard leaves the Central
Florida program with 190 career 3-point field goals, which ranks fourth in the
school's record book.

Washington averaged 13 points, 6.2
rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game last season while shooting 49
percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the 3-point line at Cecil
College in North East, Md. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard helped lead the
Seahawks to a sixth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in March
after he was named a Junior College Division II First-Team All-American
following the 2009-10 season.

"Realizing that we are losing a
lot of experience, we've added some very talented transfer student-athletes,"
Parrotta said. "Asprilla and Sosa both have produced at high levels and will
further deepen our roster when they become eligible in 2012-13. We are looking
forward to working with all these new faces and getting them to compete at a
high level. Although it has taken some time, we are now in a position to
attract some very good talent to Canisius College."

Parrotta also announced that
junior forward Rokas Gricius and
freshman guard Ashton Khan will not
return to the roster next season. Gricius played in 25 career games for the
Griffs and holds the honor of being the first Lithuanian-born player in school
history to score a point for the Blue and Gold. He will graduate from the
College this spring and is currently pursuing his master's degree in sport
administration at Canisius. Khan played in 15 games during his freshman
campaign.

"Rokas is currently pursuing some
opportunities presented to him in the professional work world, and I'm very
proud of the effort he gave to this program, both on and off the court. Ashton and I mutually agreed that he should pursue other options. We're helping him in his search to find a school that will give him an opportunity to continue his education and play a more pivotal role on the court. I wish both
of those guys nothing but the best as they move forward."